Related Links

Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma says the ANC government is still, as it was 20 years ago, committed to peace, stability and friendship.

Zuma said in a speech prepared for delivery at the Chris Hani Memorial Lecture in Queenstown that "the ANC government has succeeded because of its history and of the foundation laid by its leaders such as comrade Chris [Hani]."

"Twenty-years down the line we can boldly say that the foundation for a non-racial and non-sexist Constitution and a vibrant multi-party democracy that comrade Chris fought for is firmly established."

Hani, who was SA Communist Party general secretary and chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, was assassinated outside his house in Boksburg on 10 April 1993 by Polish hitman Janusz Walus with a gun arranged by right-winger Clive Derby-Lewis.

They were both sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life in prison when the death penalty was abolished.

Zuma said the country could learn a lot from Hani's legacy.

He said the country still faced major challenges and backlogs given where it came from.

Gross inequalities and poverty persisted and the rate of unemployment remained high.

"But we know where we are going in implementing the vision outlined in the Freedom charter," said Zuma.

"We have also scored a major achievement in the country through the adoption of the National Development Plan which has been embraced by almost every sector of society."

He said if Hani was still alive today he would be working tirelessly to expand services to all people and build sustainable communities.

"In his memory let us therefore build a society where all our people live in dignity and where women are not battered, raped and molested.

"Indeed we must all start working harder than ever, as we move towards the 20th anniversary of freedom, to build a better life for ourselves," said Zuma.

24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Saving your profile

Settings

News24 allows you to edit the display of certain components based on a location.
If you wish to personalise the page based on your preferences, please select a
location for each component and click "Submit" in order for the changes to
take affect.

Your Location*

Weather*

Always remember my setting

Saving your settings

Facebook Sign-In

Hi News addict,

Join the News24 Community to be involved in breaking the news.

Log in with Facebook to comment and personalise news, weather and listings.